Bird Feeder Suet Recipe

Would anyone out there know how to make homemade suet? We have lots of beautiful birds around in the winter and we try to keep them happy. Thanks.
Barb from Mountaindale, NY

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RE: Bird Feeder Suet Recipe

Suet is beef fat, so you can't really "make" your own. You can get it from a butcher and then use it as is, or melt it with seeds and such to make suet cakes for the birds. Butchers also sell it to make Christmas puddings, but most people don't bother with this any more, and use an alternate source of fat. I think the idea of feeding suet to the birds came from years ago when people had access to it because of doing their own butchering. It is not as popular as pork or bacon fat for cooking, and so was an "extra" thrifty, low cost thing that one could use to feed the birds. (10/27/2008)

RE: Bird Feeder Suet Recipe

Thanks for asking Barb and thanks for the recipe Kathy, I'm going to try it. (10/30/2008)

By Lori

RE: Bird Feeder Suet Recipe

I think they just like the suet itself. Be cautious of peanut butters or bacon fat, as they contain a lot of salt, and can put the birds into a premature moult. That can be deadly to them in the winter. (10/31/2008)

RE: Bird Feeder Suet Recipe

I used to boil a little water and then melt 1 cup crisco shortening in it and then stir in 1 cup sugar and enough oats to make it thick. Then I would cool it a little and put it out on the fence in a margarine container. :)

Here is a website that has other recipes for suet:

http://www.ourbetternature.org/suet.htm

Most of their recipes add peanut butter and cornmeal and flour. I never added those but it could be a great idea to do that. When I would put the suet out in a margarine bowl attached to the fence, then all the wild animals would come up from the neighborhood, possums and all, they all expected it at a certain time. Remember if you start feeding them in the winter to keep it up because they will be expecting that as a source of nutrition.
(02/06/2009)